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Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Jun-2026 03:15 ET (27-Jun-2026 07:15 GMT/UTC)

Researchers from NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center present latest findings at 2026 ASCO Annual Meeting

NYU Langone Health / NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Meeting Announcement

Experts from NYU Langone Health’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute–designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, present their latest clinical findings and research at the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, held May 29 to June 2 in Chicago.

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Penn State
Grant and Award Announcement

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a five-year, $3.2 million grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

Stopping ticks in their tracks

University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a new study published in The EMBO Journal, researchers identified a tick protein that could help block disease transmission before it fully happens. The EMBO Journal, published by the European Molecular Biology Organization, is one of the world’s leading journals in molecular biology.

Journal: The EMBO Journal

“Herbal” does not mean “harmless”: A new study finds herbal cigarettes are not safer than tobacco

Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Herbal cigarettes, widely sold in India and abroad as natural, tobacco-free, and even therapeutic alternatives to conventional cigarettes, are not safer than regular tobacco cigarettes. They produce emissions that can be comparably or even more damaging than tobacco smoke. That is the conclusion of a new study conducted by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN), in collaboration with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). The paper, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, presents a comprehensive comparison of the physical, chemical, and oxidative properties of mainstream (firsthand) smoke from commercially available herbal and tobacco cigarettes in the Indian market.

Journal: Journal of Hazardous Materials
Funder: Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration

Free contraception policy sharply reduces patient costs in B.C., especially for young adults

University of British Columbia
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Researchers at the University of British Columbia found that B.C.’s decision to provide universal, no-cost prescription contraception sharply reduced what patients pay, with the largest financial gains for people in their 20s. Before the policy, the pill averaged about $25 per month, while IUDs ranged from $75 to more than $500 up front—and for long-term pill users, lifetime costs could reach $10,000. Two years after the policy change, patient spending was 83 per cent lower than expected, translating to average savings of $43 per contraceptive user per year.

Journal: JAMA Health Forum

Columbia-led team develops open-source framework to accelerate health AI research

Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New study introduces MEDS, a new data standard and ecosystem designed to improve reproducibility, collaboration, and scalability in clinical AI research.

Journal: NEJM AI
Funder: Ivan and Francesca Berkowitz Family Living Laboratory Collaboration, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, AstraZeneca, Warren Alpert Foundation, Debra and Mark Leslie Fund for Supporting AI in Healthcare Research, Institute for Information and Technology Planning and Evaluation, National Research Foundation of Korea, European Commission in the Horizon 2020 project INTERVENE, Innovation Fund Denmark, Danish National Research Foundation

ACEP, ACR and ASA applaud final IDR operations rule as major step forward for No Surprises Act implementation

American Society of Anesthesiologists
Business Announcement

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA), American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and American College of Radiology (ACR) today applauded the final Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Operations Rule under the No Surprises Act (NSA) released on May 28, commending federal agencies for their thoughtful and collaborative approach in addressing longstanding challenges and advancing a more functional, transparent dispute resolution system.

Brain scans reveal two distinct subtypes of autism with different underlying biology

The Child Mind Institute
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international research team led by the Child Mind Institute and the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) has identified at least two distinct subtypes of autism, defined by their patterns of brain connectivity. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, represents the first systematic effort to link brain imaging patterns in autism to their underlying molecular biology. The findings have the potential to pave the way for more personalized approaches to care and support.

Journal: Nature Neuroscience

Brain scans reveal two distinct subtypes of autism with different underlying biology

Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia - IIT
Peer-Reviewed Publication

An international research team led by Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT Italian Institute of Technology) in Rovereto (Trento, Italy) and the Child Mind Institute in New York (USA), and in collaboration with researchers from the University of Trento, has shown that it is possible to identify at least two distinct subtypes of autism, defined by their patterns of brain connectivity. In the “hyperconnectivity” subtype, brain areas communicate more than usual; in the “hypoconnectivity” subtype, communication between brain areas is reduced. The study aims to develop tools for precise, personalized autism care and support. The research paper was published in the international journal Nature Neuroscience.

Journal: Nature Neuroscience
Funder: European Research Council, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative